Keeping the reason in mind?

la79al

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 24, 2005
The cost of taking the kids to Disney World makes me want to cry. Like a year of preschool plus a year of gymnastics for 1 week at DW makes me cringe. But when we jokingly mentioned a Disney trip to the kids and they got sooo excited, it made us decide to go ahead and start planning. I know when we get to Disney, I am going to want to get my moneys worth, at the parks open to close, rushing around to hit every ride and all meet and greets the kids want to do. At the same time, I want to make this a magical trip. I know when all is said and done it will be the little things that make it magic and that they remember. I'm going to be telling myself this over and over for the next year but does anyone have any tricks on how to do a Disney trip and not just see dollar bills flying away every minute?
 
Cut expenses where you can? Definitely go in knowing that no character meal is "worth" $200, you won't get that value out of the food. You don't have to stay in a deluxe or DVC resort. A dining plan isn't always the best way to go. Things like that.

If you do open to close, rushing around every where, you are going to have tired, unhappy kids (going by the ages in your signature). Doing the most attractions isn't fun if people need a break or a nap. Kids, especially younger ones, don't necessarily get that "more is better". If they are princess fanatics, or crazy about everything Star Wars, or whatever, they may not care that they missed riding the Barnstormer if they saw Storytime with Belle or got to meet Chewbacca.

I think you have to know (which you obviously do) and accept that it may seem like the dollars disappear from your wallet as you go through security. But, we still went back year after year when our kids were younger, and we still do every few years now that they are teenagers. There isn't a value to be put on a little kid in awe.
 
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I always have to remember that we can not possibly do it all and that many of the most magical things at Disney are already included in the cost. So many rides, shows, parades, and even little details to see and enjoy are already included. I always get tempted by upcharge experiences and then immediately talk myself out of it.

I also remember that kids at Disney are still kids. They still need their meals and naps and bathroom stops and it can all take way more time than normal (at home I can change a diaper like I’m on a nascar pit crew- at Disney it’s a one handed kick-and-flail fest because 2 yo is so fired up). They most importantly still need their rest. It’s so hard to feel like I should go from park open to park close when I know that at home we wouldn’t be out until so late every night.

My third reality check is always that there’s real time and then there’s Disney time. Those character meets start to take a big chunk of the day (and that’s ok- as long as I also don’t think I’m getting to all kinds of other things as well).
 
Forget about being in the park open to close. Your children will not make it. Get to the park when it opens if you can to take advantage of shorter lines first thing in the morning. Then take a break and head back to the resort for naps and a swim. My son was four on our first trip and his favorite thing was swimming in the pool at the resort. After everyone is refreshed, head to another park for evening shows and any FPs you can pick up. Then try to be on your resort bus before the end of the night. Otherwise, you are going to have sleepy kids and no way to handle all of them. If you want to stay to the end, plan on starting the next day later, not park opening. And move at the pace of the kids. Their legs are shorter than yours and cannot move as fast as you can. Do what you can, but don't stay so long that the kids get out of sorts. That will make a horrible bus trip back to the resort.

A good way to see characters is to do a morning or afternoon character meal. You could do that for your lunch and head back to the resort right after eating. Then if the older child isn't tired, maybe you or your spouse could take the little ones back to the resort and the other stay with the older in the park for a while longer.

Oh, and you won't get your money's worth. You might get a good value for your money, but it's going to be the family time and not the number of rides.
 
The cost of taking the kids to Disney World makes me want to cry. Like a year of preschool plus a year of gymnastics for 1 week at DW makes me cringe. But when we jokingly mentioned a Disney trip to the kids and they got sooo excited, it made us decide to go ahead and start planning. I know when we get to Disney, I am going to want to get my moneys worth, at the parks open to close, rushing around to hit every ride and all meet and greets the kids want to do. At the same time, I want to make this a magical trip. I know when all is said and done it will be the little things that make it magic and that they remember. I'm going to be telling myself this over and over for the next year but does anyone have any tricks on how to do a Disney trip and not just see dollar bills flying away every minute?

I think you need to define "money's worth " before you get there. You will never get your money's worth if you are costing it all out minute by minute, attraction by attraction, but if you look at the experience as a whole, you may feel differently.

We took the little family on our street to stay at the Grand. It was pricey. After we returned home my friend sent my DH a few videos of our beautiful Nola belting out all the Frozen songs at the sing-a-long. He told me that that experience alone for her was worth every penny.

As to planning, I look at the trip cost as a whole. Look at lodging. Do you need a fancy resort? Is a value going to make your family happy? They are highly themed, way less expensive, and kids love them. Then look at how you want to spend your time. The kids are going to want the pool. So I look at it as part of the trip. Plan it in.

Characters? Are they important? If they are, consider the dining plan. You can make that thing work for you if you plan carefully, and you will meet a lot of different characters.

Look at spending. My daughter made envelopes for my DGD. $20 per day in each envelope. Kady could spend it or add it to the next day. No fuss no whining. It was ll on her. She was given a new envelope daily, and that child came home with money. I would plan that. Give the kids a budget and leave it up to them. When its gone its gone, but now you do not need to hear it after every attraction that dumps into a shop.

Either pack food for the room or order it. Breakfast is a no brainer, milk and cereal, breakfast bars, whatever. Order water as well. It adds up buying drinks in the parks.

I would also not try to drag the kids all day long. You will have miserable kids, tired parents, and no one will go home happy.

WHen my oldest was 12 we took the family to WDW. There was only the MK and Future World. We saved and saved to take them on a ten day FL attractions vacation. My oldest, now 44, is still complaining that I scarred him for life, dragging him through WDW>He still has never gone back! I came home needing a vacation from the vacation. Please do not do this. Plan your vacation to enjoy the entire stay, not just an attraction based marathon.
 
For me...because I'm a resident, that cuts a lot of worry for me financially. Still....I go in to Disney remembering, it's easy to spend, spend, spend, on snacks and souvenirs if I'm not careful, so I set a "budget" while there. My son and I will have $600 in spending money. I'm giving him $100 to have as his own....once he spends it.....he's done. For the 5 days we are there, that breaks down to $20 a day. That'll leave us with the rest of the spending money at $100 a day to spend. I believe we will come home with a nice little sum. The majority of it will be used for offsite eating and souvenirs from Disney Springs.

Because of our restricted diet, we don't do ADRs. So if we want to meet characters, we go to spots where they are located outside the restaurants. I have never done open to close and don't ever plan on doing so. That would completely wear me out and that's not the purpose for going on a vacation. Son and I enjoy rope drop as even on vacation we are early risers. We leave around 1 when the park starts to get busy and head back to the resort for rest and pool time. Our arrival day we won't be getting to AK till around 1pm, but plan on staying till 6 or 7. AK has been our arrival day park since we started going with our son, so I've made it a tradition now. Plus, I don't need a lot of time in that park, so it works out nicely.

PP mentioned you defining "money's worth". I agree with that. If you try to "do it all". I seriously doubt you'll feel like you got your money's worth, because there's no way you can do it all in the short amout of time you'll have in Disney. Where I save the biggest on money is on the resort I pick. Even as a resident the deluxes hurt my pocket. And my feelings! :scared: I like the values...that's the only place we've stayed besides the Shades of Green when my husband was active duty. I don't need a resort for it's amenities....I'm only there to sleep and rest. I've stayed at Sports and Pop Century. Pop is my favorite, but we're doing Sports this time as that was the one my son picked since this is "his" trip. :p

Just relax, take a deep breath and remember why you're there in the first place. It is not cheap to go to Disney, but you can make it affordable and fun if you just get a plan in your head and do your best to stick to it while there.
 
We always take as much food as we can and try to only eat 1 meal in the parks a day. We eat breakfast in the room and pack sandwiches and snacks for the day. Food and souvenirs Is what kills you at WDW. We don’t fall into that trap anymore. Buy cheap character T-shirt’s, princess dresses and stuffed animals( or whatever Disney related thing they may want. Ohhh light up toys for the parades!!!! My kids always wanted these and they are so overpriced)buy them before you go and give them too the kids while at Disney. I also do not spend money on the deluxe resorts. You are in the room so little it doesn’t matter. Our family loves to camp so we haul the tent down and camp at Ft Wilderness sometimes, but the values are great for little kids( but small and cramped Rooms) moderates have more room, bigger beds, and a slide in the main pool!!! I really like them. Also look for resort deals or free dining. We also have stayed off-site a few times. There are some really nice places in close proximity to Disney that can be less than 1/2 the price of a Disney resort with more amenities. The drawback though is it is harder to take that afternoon break.
 


As others have said, stop focusing on having to be there from open to close every day and run from ride to ride. That will make you miserable. Take time to "stop and smell the roses". Soak up the atmosphere, have fun, relax. Those are the memories that will last, along with the attractions.

As for saving money, I'm one of the extremes on being "cheap" at WDW and we still have a blast. We stay off-site only. Not only because it's cheap, but to us staying on site would be horrible. We rent a 3-4 bedroom, 2.5 bath condo/townhouse for around $80-$100/night all in. We pack all of our own food...it's nowhere near as difficult as people make it out to be. In one week, we may buy one QS meal in the parks...maybe. Normally, the only food we buy in the parks are snacks or desserts. I've read that people who buy all their food in the parks spend between $50-$100/person per day. We spend roughly $7-$8/person per day. Be smart on the souvenirs you buy.

Believe me, we know the pain of budgeting for a trip. We've got 3 kids playing year round sports, which cost a fortune. We do WDW on a budget and still have an absolutely wonderful time every time.
 
You wont do every ride and every meet and greet in one trip. Don't set your expectations up for a fall. I've been going 30 years and still never did all that. Take it slow, plan well, and pick out ONLY the most important rides and M&G's. It could be a once and a lifetime trip. Savor it. Seriously, I can't stress that enough. Just enjoy it. Their favorite memory could very well be walking down Main Street with mom and dad and seeing that big castle in the background.
 
On our last trip, we rope dropped every day, breakfast was granola bars or cereal, we bounced from ride to ride, we’d do a late TS breakfast, spend a little more time in the park, and then head back for some nap/pool time. We’d go back to a park late afternoon, plan on a couple of things, but very relaxed touring.
 
It is "worth it" if every day is fun and memorable, for everyone in the family.

That doesn't mean you need to ride 30 rides a day.

Also, I can't believe it's as expensive as preschool + gymnastics?? There are lots of ways to minimize costs. You can bring outside food into the parks. We spend money on one 'big' meal every day or two, plus a treat a day, then otherwise we minimize food/drink costs by packing food. This also saves park time. We eat breakfast in line at rope drop - we buy the kids those small boxes of candy cereals, like Froot Loops, that they never get in regular life, so it feels like a vacation treat. It is equally magical for the kids to stay at a Disney value hotel as the Polynesian. And once you buy the park tickets, you don't need to spend any other money on entertainment.

Still, it will be expensive, but the worst thing to do is to drive your family too hard, so that they are just checking boxes for what rides they did, rather than having fun in the moment.
 
Is it "worth it" well I go back to our 1st trip in 2006 and I spent around 6K. My mother about died over how much I spent but when we got home my then 5 year old hugged me and said I have the bestest daddy in the world. Was it worth it? I am planning our 6th trip now. Now if your wanting to save a bit. Character breakfasts are less expensive and we totally love Tusker House and Stitch
s breakfast at Ohana. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge this past June because of nice everyone was when we visited the Lodge during out 2015 trip. The girls spent 6-8 hours looking at that savanna for free it did cost me 2 safari hats with pins).
 
"Worth it" is subjective. I remember my first trip to Disney watching some parent yell at their over tired/ over stimulated kid going "I SPENT THIS MUCH MONEY YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE" Don't be that parent. I may say "there's no wrong way to do Disney", but being that parent is the wrong way to do Disney.

Is Disney cheap? No. I don't even know if I'd call it affordable, but there are ways to limit the spending. Meals can be split, or you can bring in your own food.

Staying offsite is cheaper, and there are plenty of close places to stay offsite where you're close to the bubble but not in the bubble (I'm not leaving the bubble with a kid still in a carseat, it's just easier for me to pay the premium to stay in the bubble).

Don't feel like you have to stay onsite or in a deluxe. If your kids are like most kids, they're just happy at a hotel that has a pool...

The look on my daughter's face when she met her hero minnie mouse was worth EVERY STINKING PENNY. Also she hated every ride, so I gave up on trying to go on rides and just let her climb on park benches and wander around aimlessly...
 
"Worth it" is subjective. I remember my first trip to Disney watching some parent yell at their over tired/ over stimulated kid going "I SPENT THIS MUCH MONEY YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE" Don't be that parent. I may say "there's no wrong way to do Disney", but being that parent is the wrong way to do Disney.

Is Disney cheap? No. I don't even know if I'd call it affordable, but there are ways to limit the spending. Meals can be split, or you can bring in your own food.

Staying offsite is cheaper, and there are plenty of close places to stay offsite where you're close to the bubble but not in the bubble (I'm not leaving the bubble with a kid still in a carseat, it's just easier for me to pay the premium to stay in the bubble).

Don't feel like you have to stay onsite or in a deluxe. If your kids are like most kids, they're just happy at a hotel that has a pool...

The look on my daughter's face when she met her hero minnie mouse was worth EVERY STINKING PENNY. Also she hated every ride, so I gave up on trying to go on rides and just let her climb on park benches and wander around aimlessly...
I'm my case when Gwen saw the castle for 1st time at age 5 and said Its Real totally worth every penny
 
I think the best place to save is the lodging. Kids (IME) don't care about fancy hotels. They all have pools. In a cheaper room you can do more nights- and once you get past the first few days on a park ticket, adding on days is SO MUCH cheaper. Our last trip, we did 7 park days in a row with a 2, 6, and 8yo. We are early risers, so we were there at RD every day, but did not stay the whole day (and didn't feel pressured to, because we went to each park at least twice). Either left for good around 2 or 3, or took a break from about 12-4 and went back out around dinnertime.
 
OP here- thanks for the input everyone. To add some details, it will be me and the 3 kids (11, 9, 4) by ourselves. We're going to pay the extra money to stay on property (at a value, we're cool with tight quarters) so the kids get the whole experience and not a mom on the verge of road rage. We won't have a car but DH is dropping us off at the beginning of the week with as many groceries as we can fit in the room. We will be packing all food and drinks into the stroller unless we save up enough to do a very few special meals (I'm thinking BoG and a snack in 'France', not CRT or Ohana). The kids will have/be getting their own spending money but I doubt they'll be buying much. We are already planning on making dresses and t-shirts (ODD is a crafter) so those won't be a temptation. So our expenses will really just be park tickets and hotel. I'm going to let the kids lead. I'm going to let them look at pictures from previous trips and watch them ooh and aah over the little moments and skip over the pictures of the rides. I'm hoping that with a year to work on it, I won't be that parent dragging their overtired kids through the parks complaining about how much we aren't doing.
 
To me, Disney is for sure a stop and smell the roses kind of place. It is beautiful! It is magical! Just walking around and taking it in is getting my money's worth. We never do every ride, but we enjoy every one, and we enjoy just being there.
 
Disney is expensive. You will not get your monies worth is you account minute by minute. I used to complain that the time spent in the pool was wasted time better spent in the parks. They can swim anytime, right? I know I got my worth when my children will happily remember something that happened on the trip (usually something mundane and trivial). That's why DH and DW work all that overtime-- to make a wonderful memory for ourselves and our children.
 
It sounds like a very special trip! Getting the kids involved will make it more special!!!
 
To me, Disney is for sure a stop and smell the roses kind of place. It is beautiful! It is magical! Just walking around and taking it in is getting my money's worth. We never do every ride, but we enjoy every one, and we enjoy just being there.
YES, I really don't like the "touring plans" and "commando" style of park touring. I really don't get it at all. WDW and all Disney parks can ONLY be fully appreciated by slowing down and enjoying the little things, talking to CM's, watching children at play etc
It isn't about the "big rides" it's the little subtle things that make it so fantastic.
One of our fondest memories is getting our DD a silhouette done on Main Street.

It costs us around $20,000 to go to WDW.
Worth every cent.
We keep going back, we sacrifice a lot to do so but the reason we love it is because it is safe, fun and provides lasting memories for our whole family.
 

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